


Never Let Me Go

by Amarxlen, HinataOC



Series: Lucky0Stars Collections [11]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Mermaids, Mermen, Multi, Pirates, Polyamory, Reader Insert, Reader-Insert, male reader - Freeform, merfolk, peril on the high seas, pirate hunter, sfw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-15
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-05-12 04:15:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19221391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amarxlen/pseuds/Amarxlen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/HinataOC/pseuds/HinataOC
Summary: As a pirate hunter, you live a very eventful life. You just never thought the ones you loved the most would get dragged into it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to the tumblr blog lucky0stars by Mod Amar.

**Never Let Me Go — Merfolk AU**

“Pirate hunter” was a very ambiguous title, and besides that, it wasn’t the most official of occupations. Being a pirate hunter could mean any number of things, and it often varied from one day to the next. Some days were busier or more perilous than others, but some days were nothing short of breathtaking. Days where the sun shone brightly, warming your skin and glittering off the gentle waves of the ocean as you relaxed in a vibrantly green lagoon with the people dearest to your heart.

You looked around the lagoon, taking in Sora and Roxas having a good natured, if not intense, conversation about who could swim to a far off piece of driftwood and back the fastest and admiring Sora’s animated way of speaking and Roxas’ confident smirk. Truthfully, you weren’t sure which of them was the fastest, and so you refrained from chiming in. You were content to just lie in Riku’s arms, lazily playing with his hair in a position that by all accounts should have been extremely uncomfortable, but there wasn’t enough money in the world to get you to move. Especially not when he chuckled softly into your ear at Sora and Roxas’ antics and you felt the motion of it against your back.

Truth be told, they weren’t exactly people, at least not in the traditional sense of the word, but in the way they behaved and hoped and feared, they were people the same as you. Your line of work brought you into contact with many different types of people, the best of which being the three merfolk you now spent as much of your time as possible with. You thanked your lucky stars everyday that you had met them and they continued to grace you with their presence. Life was never better than in the moments where the three of you were together, uninhibited by worries or stress.

“Should I tell them they could find out who’s faster if they just race already?”

You felt his smile against your fingertips as they traced over his cheek on your way to finding his hair again.

“You could,” he teased.

Though it sounded like he had more to say, he didn’t, and you suspected it was because he didn’t want to dissuade you from actually telling them that. You reclaimed your hands from his hair, cupping them around your mouth — they smelled like seasalt and Riku and it made your heart hitch in your chest — so your voice would carry through the lagoon.

“Hey, guys!” The two of them turned towards you and Riku, expressions curious. “You could, y’know, actually race for it!”

They exchanged a glance, and you were too far away to say for sure, but you had a feeling it was wickedly mischievous. Your feeling was only intensified when they both grinned at each other and, without a word, disappeared under the water. Normally, the water was clear enough that you could see straight through to the bottom, but the sun was hitting it just right that there was too much of a reflection for you to see where they were going.

“You’re in for it now,” Riku said with another chuckle.

“Oh no.”

“Oh yes.”

You twisted around to look at his face, finding that he, too, wore a smirk full of mischief and your stomach flipped, both at how much you loved the expression on his face and the fact that you knew you’d be getting no help from him.

“Traitor,” you accused, and he shrugged just as you felt two sets of hands wrap around your ankles.

“Or you could, y’know—”

“—come in and join us!”

And then with a mighty tug from each of them you were yanked from Riku’s lap, feeling as his tentacles gave you an extra push to make sure you didn’t bash your head on the rock you’d been resting on. You took a deep breath just before you plunged inelegantly into the water between Sora and Roxas.

You didn’t immediately try to surface, instead flexing your fingers quickly to cast a spell. As soon as you felt the magic take hold, you breathed in deeply and opened your eyes to see the grinning faces of Sora and Roxas. Sora had his hands behind his head and Roxas had a hand on his hips, but their faces were identical pictures of smugness.

“You guys are jerks.”

You crossed your arms and tried to look irritated with them, but felt the corner of your mouth lifting up to betray you.

“Well you could spend time with us too, instead of cuddling with Riku the whole time.”

“I’ll have you know, Riku is extremely comfortable,” you said in mock indignation.

“I’m comfortable too!”

Sora’s indignation was entirely real, and you couldn’t help but laugh, even as Roxas rolled his eyes. You knew he meant the expression in the least exasperated of ways, and it showed in the way he too sported a small smile. You swam up to Sora, feeling clumsy and somewhat inept, but he grinned all the same when you wrapped your arms around him.

“Trust me, I know.” You grinned. “Buuut, while we’re on the subject, maybe we could  _ persuade _ Riku to join us.”

He hadn’t yet joined you in the water, probably debating whether or not he wanted to be in the middle of any possible underwater play fights.

“I think that could be arranged,” Roxas said.

His smile had once again turned mischievous. Sora looked between the two of you in confusion.

“What do you mean ‘persuade hi—’ ohhhh.” Sora’s face brightened in delight. “I get it. Yeah, let’s do it!”

Without any further words, the three of you moved back towards the surface, where it became clearer that Riku was peering down into the water, what looked like a small frown on his face. You glanced over to Sora and Roxas and held up three fingers. They nodded in understanding. You raised your fingers again, one by one, in a silent countdown. On ‘three’, the three of you surged up out of the water, Sora and Roxas once again a bit more gracefully than yourself. Riku’s eyes widened as they seized his arms, their downward momentum tugging him forward with a little help from the wave you conjured from behind him.

“Gotcha!”

Riku fell face first into the water, hair covering his face as he tumbled head over tentacle. Expecting retribution, you, Sora, and Roxas had immediately put some distance between yourselves and Riku, but you were unable to hold back your laughter. Slowly, Riku lifted his arm and pushed his hair out of his face, blowing out a breath through his mouth. He pinned each of you with an intense stare, and then he spoke.

“Oh, you guys asked for it now.”

There was just enough time for your eyes to widen before Riku’s eyes narrowed and he smirked, darting forward with his arms outstretched. You barely evaded his grasp, and he moved on to chasing Roxas, and then Sora, until all of you were laughing, swimming through the water in an impromptu game of tag.

Those were your favorite kind of days, the breathtaking ones. The ones that weren’t necessarily extraordinary by definition, but were extraordinary in how you felt during and after them. It was always a perfect ending to any day to lie in their arms in the surf, not caring how the water dried on your clothes, the salt making them stick to your skin.

It was an immensely different feeling from wiping the rain off your face and wincing at the salt residue on the back of your hand getting into them. The storm was whipping rain and saltwater alike through the air, waves crashing and cresting impossibly high on the sides of the ship you were trying to board. You flattened yourself against the side of the ship as another wave slammed against your back, forcing you to cling to your rope for dear life. When the wave died down a bit and you could open your eyes again, you made a mental note to yourself to be careful the next time you created a storm. You supposed your rage and panic had fueled the storm into something worse than you’d meant it to be. But it was proving to be a more than adequate distraction, and how were you supposed to feel?

The pirates had taken them. They’d taken Sora, Riku, and Roxas.

Your eyes narrowed in determination and your fingers clenched harder around the rope you were using to pull yourself up. It would have been easy enough for you to use magic to help keep the water out of your eyes, but you weren’t entirely sure what was awaiting you aboard the ship. You’d be damned if the freedom of your boys was kept out of reach because you made a foolish mistake. You steeled yourself and continued climbing, putting one hand over the other until you finally reached the top.

Before you pulled yourself up onto the deck, you peered between the rails. The crew was rushing about, trying to stabilize the ship in the storm. Nobody would notice an extra body making their way across the planks. Not with the way the rain came down in sheets and the lightning blinded everybody for a split second after it flashed. You were just another faceless crew member.

With that in mind, you pulled yourself onto the deck, taking care to avoid the men that rushed by you and keeping your head down as you made your way to the door that led below deck. You didn’t bother to search the deck, knowing that such valuable cargo as the merfolk they’d stolen wouldn’t be kept in plain sight. You felt your jaw clench involuntarily and the only thing that kept you from throwing open the door in anger was the fact that somebody might notice you. Opening the door quickly, but subtly, you snuck in through the smallest crack you could manage.

There was no way to accurately plan your rescue after this point, and so, eyes adjusting to the dim lighting of the single small lantern hanging from a utilitarian wall sconce, you took in the interior of the ship slowly. With the door closed behind you, the sounds of your storm and the shouting of the crew were muffled. You could still feel the ship swaying erratically under your feet and used your moment of surveillance to also get your balance. A flicker of dismay ran through you as you realized the reality of your situation. You had no idea where they would be on this ship. Would they be in one of the cabins, due to the difficulty of carrying a merfolk (you knew it well, having tried to carry Sora and Roxas before), or would they be held lower, with the cargo and other stolen goods?

You let out a groan of frustration and then drew a hand over your face. Your questions would never be answered if you kept standing there, and time was of the essence. You may have summoned the storm, but you couldn’t control it, and all storms, even magical ones, only lasted so long. Steeling yourself, you stepped forward, making quick work of searching each of the cabins before you and finding them all empty. It would be nearly impossible to hide something big enough to house even a single merfolk, and so you only looked into each for a split second before moving on. Satisfied that they weren’t on this deck, you turned away from the cabins, and focused your attention on the ladder that led further into the depths of the ship.

You were only halfway down the ladder when the ship gave a particularly large lurch, knocking you off balance and sending you tumbling the rest of the way down. For a moment all you could do was lie in a crumpled heap on the floor, head spinning. Or was that the ever present swaying of the ship, trying to find safe passage through your storm?

“Y/N!”

Several voices called out in unison before you’d fully come back to your senses. It was with a great effort that you lifted yourself up, putting a hand to your head to try to steady yourself and then immediately forgetting your fall at the sight before you. 

You sucked in a breath, scrambling to your feet and across the room, hands pressing against the glass of the tank.

“Sora, Riku, Roxas,” you said in a rush. Your voice wavered as you said their names, looking at each of them in turn as a wobbly smile spread across your lips. “I’m so—” But you couldn’t finish the sentence, shaking your head and unable to look away from them. “I’m gonna get you out of here.”

“What about the pirates?” Sora asked.

Your smile grew more confident.

“Let’s just say they’re a bit preoccupied.”

Despite the dire nature of the situation, Roxas snorted, and Riku chuckled, shaking his head slightly.

“This storm is your doing?”

“I thought I sensed something magical about it.”

Roxas nodded sagely.

“What, did you guys think I was only good at parlor tricks? Not a chance. Now,” you said, stepped back a bit from the tank to take it in completely. “About getting you out of here…”

The glass looked impossibly solid, and besides that, even if you felt you could smash it, you didn’t want to injure any of the mermen inside. Not unless you absolutely had to. There had to be some other way to get the three of them out of there. Levitation magic? But that still left getting off the ship, which would include getting past the pirates. As preoccupied as they were with the storm, you weren’t delusional enough to think they wouldn’t notice you making off with their merchandise.

“Well, well.” The voice came from behind you and you whirled around, magic pooling at your fingertips, waiting to be used. “I thought I saw somebody scurrying down here. You’re not one of my crew.”

The man before you was unmistakably the captain, and the frown on his face didn’t look particularly angry. Instead, he looked confused, as though he couldn’t fathom how or why somebody would come aboard his ship and try to steal from him. He didn't waste any time mincing words. Before you could say anything in response, he’d pulled a gun from his hip and pointed it at your head, and in the next instant he was firing it.

“Y/N!”

Eyes widening, you instinctively cast reflect, the bullet ricocheting off your shield and burying itself somewhere in the ship. Before he could fire again, you rolled out of the way, two thoughts crowding your brain: Don’t get shot, and don’t let him shoot your boys. The boat was more of a hindrance than a help in this altercation. You were hesitant to cast any spells that might damage the ship, so you would have been more comfortable with hand to hand, but you didn’t know how many bullets he had left either. Even one could prove to be too many.

Trying to keep yourself a quick moving target, you flicked your wrist and sent a strong gust of wind at the captain, trying to knock the gun from his grasp. The only thing that succeeded in was to skew his aim enough that he missed you again, but his hand remained firmly around the handle. Eyes narrowing in determination, you glanced at the tank. Another flick of your wrist sent a stream of water careening across the ship, smashing into the captain’s hand hard enough to knock him off balance. Despite this, he still blocked the way between you and your escape. Unless you could incapacitate him, you and your boys weren’t going anywhere, and there was always the rest of the crew to contend with.

You clenched your fists, quickly coming to a crazy decision. Your arm movements were sweeping, this time drawing enough water from the tank to slam the captain against the floorboards and send the gun spinning from his grasp. With him sufficiently out of the way, you rushed over to the tank, pressing your hands against it again. Your plan was half thought out, but you didn’t know what else would work. Looking up, you quickly made eye contact with each of the mermen.

“That was  _ so _ badass.”

You smiled tightly at Sora.

“It’s going to get very cold for a minute. Get as close to the middle as you can.”

Without asking any questions, the three of them did as you said, and you began to freeze the glass of the tank as quickly as you could. Though you saw them shiver minutely, you didn’t stop until the entire side was frosted over. Then, you stepped back and whirled around, kicking it as hard as you could. Cracks splintered out from where your foot met the glass, but it remained whole. You took in a deep breath and then kicked again, the splinters growing larger. The third kick was the final one, and you weren’t prepared for the way the glass shattered, even though you thought you had been. You lost your balance, falling forward and slicing your leg through your pants on the glass.

“Y/N!”

The boys surrounded you the best they could, Riku the most mobile as he tried to examine the extent of the damage, but you pushed them away.

“There’s no time. We have to get you out of here.”

You got to your feet, ignoring the pain and their concerned gazes as you made your way over to the wall. It was hard to tell, but you were almost certain it was an outside wall.

“The ocean’s on the other side. I can tell.”

Looking to your side, you saw that they’d managed to follow you. Your eyes met Roxas’, and he looked at you unwaveringly before nodding and you realized he knew exactly what you were planning to do. You nodded back, and then began another spell. Soon, you would need to rest. You might not even have enough magic to cast the spell that would allow you to breathe underwater. But you couldn’t worry about that yet. All you could worry about was the wood beneath your fingertips, and if you’d be able to burn away enough of it for them to escape.

You didn’t realize you’d closed your eyes until they shot open at the feeling of water nearly knocking you off your feet, only for you to be caught by one of the boys.

“Y/N, are you okay?”

“Fine,” you said quickly, although your eyelids felt heavy, and your thoughts felt sluggish. “We have to go, now.” They looked as though they wanted to argue, though they knew as well as you did that you couldn’t stay here. “Go.”

“But—”

“He’s right, Sora.”

Sora frowned, lips pressed together in an almost pout before he finally nodded. Roxas was the first one to slip through the hole that was quickly filling the ship with water. It almost wasn’t big enough for him, and you thought you saw him wince a bit as he made his way through. Sora hesitated.

“You’re right behind us?”

“Right behind you.”

Then he too slipped through the hole and into the ocean.

“It’s our turn. Can you…?” You shook your head at the question. You had no magic left for the spell that would let you breathe underwater. “Okay. You’ll have to take a deep breath then. I’ll get you out, and we’ll go straight back to the surface. I’ll…” Riku hesitated, sounding guilty. “I’ll have to go first, and then pull you through. I don’t want you to…”

“Right. It’ll be okay.”

He nodded, and then released you slowly, making his way over to the hole, tentacles allowing him through it a bit more gracefully than Sora and Roxas’ tails. You were just about to follow him when a rough hand snatched the back of your shirt, yanking you back from the hole. Adrenaline coursed through you and you began to flail, fighting against the hand that dragged you further and further away from your boys.

“I thought they’d never leave,” a voice said, and you realized it was the captain.

You let out a strangled yell and tried to lash out with your fists to hit him, but in the next moment he had dragged you to an adjoining room you hadn’t noticed before and thrown you against the wall. You didn’t have any magic left, but there was still plenty of fight in you. Leaping to your feet, you planned on throwing punch after punch at the captain until he fell to the ground again and you could escape.

You never got the chance.

A bang rang out through the cabin, starting a ringing in your ears as you instinctively covered them and fell to your knees. It seemed to take far too long for you to realize that it felt as though your leg was on fire, and when you looked down you saw a pool of blood starting around your leg. The captain frowned, but waited several minutes before approaching you and squatting down, glancing at your wound. 

“A bit deeper than I meant, but effective.” He looked up and caught your eyes. “You’re something special, ain’t you?” You didn’t answer. You weren’t sure you even could. “Well, you just cost me a great deal of money tonight. My ship, my mermen, half my  _ crew _ . So I’d say you owe me a debt, and I’ll be damned if I don’t collect. You’re gonna pay me back  _ every penny _ , or die trying.” Now, he grinned, and in the dim lighting it looked skeletal. “Do we have an understanding?”

The words sounded foggy and far away and they were the last thing you heard, and his smile was the last thing you saw before you lost consciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Never Let Me Go — Pt 2**

You tugged experimentally at the shackles around your wrists. Nothing happened, as you’d expected, but it had still been worth a try. You tugged at them again. Okay, so it hadn’t been worth a try. The shackles were inscribed with runes that you’d at first been surprised, and then smiled ruefully at. You knew exactly what they were, and while it didn’t surprise you that the pirate had them at the ready, you still wondered where he had acquired them from.

Magic binding shackles weren’t particularly common or easy to find. It seemed to make sense that a pirate of all people would have them, probably having stolen them off of somebody else. You hadn’t been on the ship long, though it felt like it had been forever already, but it had already been enough time for you to realize that you were the only magic user aboard the vessel. 

Despite your endeavors, the ship was still floating. Your falling into unconsciousness had been brief, with the captain shoving a potion down your unresisting throat, bringing you back to just enough awareness, just enough magic that when he pointed the gun at your head, you had no choice but to repair the hole in his ship. Even then, he hadn’t let you rest, demanding that you then remove the water that had gushed in while the hole was still there.

You hadn’t had a moment of peaceful rest since then, all of it punctuated by orders, by discomfort at your position, shackled and otherwise forgotten in a cell with not even a bunk, by a painful and ever present longing that enveloped your heart.

_ Sora, Riku, Roxas… _

You closed your eyes, leaning back against the wall from inspecting the runes and trying to figure out exactly what binding had been used on them — nothing you understood, unfortunately. There were countless binding spells in existence, a lot of them unique to the mage who had cast them, and so without the knowledge of who had made them, you had no way to discern how to unmake them. The longing throbbed in your chest.

It was impossible to pretend, even when you closed your eyes, that you were anywhere but an unwelcoming pirate ship, that you were anything but a prisoner. But you tried anyway. You tried to remember Riku’s touch, Sora’s smile, Roxas’ snark. A smile came to your lips at the thought. It was impossible to forget where you were, but not impossible to imagine those three you loved more than anything. It wasn’t impossible to remember that because of your efforts the three of them were free. Safe. The thought made any cage you were trapped in worth it, though that didn’t mean you would ever stop looking for a way out.

Shifting the best you could with your hands restrained, you reached down to your leg. The bullet wound, which the captain had not allowed you to heal after he had given you the miniscule amount of potion that had just barely stopped the bleeding, itched terribly, but you had to be careful not to scratch too hard, or it would hurt terribly, and that wasn’t any better. The skin around the wound was pale and puckered, new and trying desperately to sew itself back together. It was impossible to forget that your situation was wretched, with no sign of ending.

_ Sora, Riku, Roxas… _

You conjured their faces in your mind’s eye, trying to transport yourself from a dank cell to a verdant lagoon. The first time you’d seen it, you’d been alone, wandering aimlessly because that day you’d had nothing to do. There were no pirates to go after, no treasures to recover, at least not in your neck of the woods, or more appropriately, sea. The lagoon was secluded, private, and you’d stumbled into it completely by accident. It was as close to perfect as you thought any stretch of land could manage, and so you sat down, arms around your legs as you stared out at the vast expanse of blue.

At some point, your eyes slipped shut and your body met the sand, finding the beach to be a more comfortable bed than most other beds you’d slept in. It wasn’t until several hours later that you woke up, disturbed by the sound of splashing and laughter, swiftly silenced by a loud “Shhhh!” You jolted upright, looking all around you. You found nothing on the beach, turning your face to the water next. Ripples broke the lagoon’s surface, but you couldn’t be sure it wasn’t from the light breeze that rustled the leaves of the trees around you.

“Hello?”

There was no answer, though you could have sworn you saw movement from the corner of your eye. You whipped your head around to try to catch sight of it, but by the time you did there was nothing there. Nothing except an oddly bent tree jutting out above the water.

“Hello?”

You began making your way over to the tree, not sure what you were going to find, or what you were hoping to find, but a voice in the back of your head whispered,  _ merfolk. _ Climbing the tree gracelessly — you hadn’t done so since you were a child — you pulled yourself forward until you were far enough on to the sideways tree to peer into the water. At first, nothing was apparent, but after a few more moments, you saw bubbles drift to the surface.

“Hello?” Your voice was uncertain. “I… I’m not going to hurt you.” The words sounded stupid, cliched and overused and far too often untrue, though you meant the sentiment. “I’m Y/N, and… I just wanted to talk.” The upward tilt to your voice at the end of the sentence made it a question.

You waited, still scouring the depths for any sort of life. Just when you were about to give up and leave the tree, writing off the bubbles as a natural ocean process, a large shape began to grow clearer under the water. Before you could determine what exactly it was, it had crested the surface of the water, sending a stream of water flying in your direction. You blinked quickly, rubbing your eyes forcefully so that you could once more open them and see what had appeared before you.

“Hi, Y/N, I’m Sora!”

Momentarily, you froze and then just as quickly movement returned to your body as you finished wiping your eyes and opened them quickly, and then opened them further still in your shock. In all the years you had been traveling the ocean, you had never seen a real live merfolk before. You’d heard stories, legends, and you knew that they were real — everyone knew that — but it was like knowing that the creatures that lived on the seafloor were real. They undoubtedly existed, but most people had never seen one.

You were unable to make yourself reply before two more merfolk appeared on either side of Sora, the blond one’s scowl and the silver-haired one’s worried look completely at odds with Sora’s carefree smile.

“Sora!”

The blond’s voice was a hiss as he reached out and hit Sora on the head.

“Owwww, Roxas! What was that for!”

“For rushing up here like an idiot! We don’t know this guy, or what he’s here for or—”

Roxas continued listing off all the reasons why Sora shouldn’t have surfaced, Sora quick to argue back with him. All the while, the third merfolk stared at you with a carefully calculating gaze.

“Who are you?” He asked. “What do you want?”

At his voice, Sora and Roxas froze. They turned their attention on you, waiting to hear your answers. Your tongue felt like it was glued to the roof of your mouth under his stare, aquamarine and sharp. If any part of you had thought to lie, it would have withered under that stare. You shook your head to clear it. 

“I don’t want anything,” you said, hoping your earnestness was apparent. “I just came here to relax and… look at the ocean.”

A silver eyebrow arched, catching your gaze as it trailed down his chest and then further to where he had eight inky black tentacles in lieu of legs. You cleared your throat uncomfortably. 

“To look at the ocean?”

You opened your mouth, but Sora spoke first, drawing your eyes to him next, and his tanned skin that seemed like it should have been impossible for merfolk to have. 

“Aw, come on, Riku. What’s wrong with that? The ocean is beautiful, I don’t blame him.”

Riku looked at Sora. 

“Nobody comes to this lagoon, Sora.”

“It wasn’t exactly easy to find,” you admitted. Though it might have made you sound more suspicious, you felt guilty about the way Sora was being scolded on your behalf. “I kind of stumbled into it more than anything.”

“See? Nothing suspicious! Not every human is a hunter.”

Riku rolled his eyes. He and Roxas seemed thoroughly unconvinced by your explanation, or at the very least still weren’t comfortable with the fact that you now knew about them. 

“I can leave, I… I didn’t mean to upset anybody. I wasn’t expecting to run into anybody else, let alone…”

You gestured vaguely with your hand to Riku’s tentacles, and Sora and Roxas’ tails, Sora’s vibrantly blue, and Roxas’ matching that of an orca. Without waiting for a response, you began to clamber back down the tree, fully prepared to leave. 

“Wait!” With a splash, Sora brought himself back into your line of sight. “You can come back anytime you want. I trust you.”

He grinned broadly at you, despite the look Riku and Roxas shared that said they clearly weren’t on board with the idea. It took a moment, but after you bit your lip, you felt yourself smile in return. 

“Thank you, Sora. I—“

With a bang, the memory of meeting your boys was shattered. You jolted upright and back into consciousness, wincing as pain lanced through your leg at the sudden movement, your wrists jerking with excruciating sharpness as you brought your hands up in an attempt to defend yourself from the noise. There was no defense to be had though, not since your hands had been bound, and you and the captain both knew it. You were useless without your magic. 

The captain walked purposely towards you, before crouching down to be at your eye level, piercing blue eyes boring into your own. That was probably what you hated the most about him, his constant need to look you in the eye. Rather than crouching down to level the playing field, he did it just to mock you. He got down to your level because he knew he didn’t have to attempt to make himself seem superior, he  _ was  _ superior, or at the very least in charge. He held all the cards. It wasn’t a fact either of you would soon forget.

“So, you ready to start paying me back?”

You glared at him with all the rage you could muster, but he seemed as unaffected as he would be if a kitten glared at him. Your leg throbbed, as if it too recognized this was the man who had shot you. With every fiber of your being, you hated the pirate captain Luxord. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Never Let Me Go — Pt 3**

The ocean churned around them, still seething from the storm you had summoned. It was enough, in the blackness, to send them reeling from the hole you’d created. Sora felt a deep scratch on his tail from where a particularly violent current slammed him against the splintered wood as he escaped the ship. Roxas followed him shortly, the two of them sharing the briefest if relieved hugs before turning back to the hole and anxiously looking for Riku and you. 

Several agonizing moments, which were probably only seconds, but felt like a lifetime, passed before Riku finally appeared. Sora’s eyes widened and he swam forward to greet Riku. Riku didn’t pay him any mind, instead quickly turning back to the ship expectantly. 

“Where’s Y/N?” Sora asked, voice stopping just short of panic. 

Riku’s eyes flicked just briefly to Sora and Roxas, who’d followed Sora immediately. 

“He couldn’t cast a breathing spell. I had to go first so that I—“ his voice hitched— “I could make sure he didn’t drown on his way out.”

The way Riku stressed the word “drown” made it obvious that wasn’t what he was worried about anymore. Sora reached out for his hand, squeezing it tightly once their fingers interlocked. 

“He’s taking too long,” Roxas said. 

His pained gaze was locked on the hole in the ship and then his eyes widened. A shout ripped through the water, followed shortly by a bang. A gunshot. 

All three merfolk darted forward as one, clamoring outside of the hole and suffering several more splinters and cuts to their hands and arms as they all struggled to get in at once. None of them gained ground against the others though, all of them too lost in their panic to realize that this wasn’t going to work.

“Move!” Roxas hissed.

“No, you move!” Sora replied with just as much frustration and anxiety.

The two continued pushing and shoving, but Riku ceased. He was the first one to realize that even if they did board the ship, there wasn’t an awful lot they could do. They didn’t have magic themselves, and Riku was the only one that had any sort of reliable way to traverse upon land. Sora and Roxas would be useless, flopping about in the ship. The ship was taking on water as they watched, but they didn’t know how far it had spread already, or if the captain was still alone or been joined by his crew.

Riku was the first one to draw reluctantly back, clenching his fists at his sides.

“Stop.”

His voice wasn’t audible over Sora and Roxas’ bickering and the roiling storm that nevertheless seemed to be subsiding around them. It irritated him that he didn’t know whether the storm dying down was a natural end to your spell, or if it was dying down because  _ you _ were— He didn’t let himself complete the thought. Instead, he cleared his throat and tried again.

“Stop,” he repeated.

This time they heard him, glancing over their shoulders, Roxas annoyed, Sora’s face wide-eyed and confused. Riku found himself looking away from the raw emotion on their faces. It wasn’t hard to imagine what they were feeling in that moment — anger, fear, guilt. Guilt most of all. It shone in Roxas’ eyes behind his anger and was belied by the quiver of Sora’s lips. The water was dark, but they were able to see well enough in it to see each other.

“Stop?” Roxas’ voice dripped with content. “Why the  _ fuck _ —”

“Language,” Sora said quietly, automatically.

“—would we stop?” Roxas finished, thoroughly ignoring Sora.

“Because,” Riku said, “even if we were able to get onto the ship, we wouldn’t be able to do anything. We don’t know how much water has flooded the ship. We don’t know what’s beyond that hole, if the captain has Y/N or back up or his gun. We can’t help Y/N if we get shot.”

Sora, at least, looked relatively convinced. He trusted Riku with an unwavering faith that, for as much as they loved each other, Riku wasn’t sure he and Roxas would ever reach. It wasn’t personal. Roxas questioned everything and everyone, and that extended to Sora, Riku, and you as well. Riku was well aware that Roxas would need more convincing, and the blond was in fact staring at him witheringly, like he’d never heard a dumber collection of words in his life.

“I don’t care.”

Riku supposed that was one of the things he actually did love about Roxas. His stubbornness, or more accurately, his steely determination in the face of things other people said were impossible. Riku didn’t necessarily think that saving you would be impossible, but he knew it was something that would be significantly handicapped by the fact that two of them had tails. If the ship had been sunk further, or either one of them had tentacles as well, or better yet, the fight were taking place in the ocean, it would have been an entirely different story. He wouldn’t have hesitated at all.

Before he could once more try to explain this to Roxas, Sora yelped and jerked back from the hole in the ship. At once, they all returned their attention to it, seeing that, against all odds, it was being repaired. Riku’s eyes widened and he joined Sora and Roxas by the hole.

“Y/N!” Roxas cried.

He darted forward, uncaring that even though he’d called your name, the hole was still being repaired.

“Y/N!” 

His hands shot out, trying to prevent the hole from disappearing, but Sora and Riku pulled him back.

“Stop it! Let me go!”

“You’re just going to get hurt!”

“ _ I. Don’t. Care _ !”

Each word was punctuated by a violent thrash of his tail and the hole grew smaller and smaller and then disappeared completely. His eyes widened, and with a particularly hard twist, he managed to escape their grip and find himself back at the hole. Or rather, what used to be the hole. He pounded against it futilely, just once, and then whirled on Riku.

“You,” he hissed. “This is your fault!”

Riku didn’t defend himself.

“If you’d just shut up and let us get on that ship, we could have saved him!”

“Roxas, stop,” Sora said quietly.

Everything seemed to freeze. At some point during their arguing, the storm had stopped completely, though the ocean still churned angrily. Sora rarely spoke this quietly, always cheerful, always optimistic, so when he did lower his voice to a point most people would consider normal, everybody who knew him well knew to shut up and listen.

Roxas stopped.

“Riku’s right. We don’t stand a chance of saving Y/N like this. No standing or running? If there was even one spot where we didn’t have water… We’d probably get ourselves  _ and  _ Y/N killed.” Roxas didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue. Sora moved his determined blue gaze from Roxas to Riku. “We need help.”

Riku nodded mutely.

“Alright, fine. Help from who? Where?”

“Aqua,” Riku said quickly. “She’ll know what to do. She’s the most powerful mage I’ve ever met.”

“Aqua it is,” Sora agreed.

“Fine,” Roxas said. “Let’s get a move on then. Lead the way.”

Riku nodded again and then took off into the darkness. It wouldn’t be a short swim to Aqua’s, it wouldn take them at least a day, even at the breakneck pace they had started out with. Logically, Riku knew the three of them wouldn’t be able to keep it up the entire time, that they were all tired from being captured and held in captivity, that Sora was wounded. He glanced over his shoulder, thinking they should stop to address Sora’s injury, but the brunet merely looked at him sternly and shook his head. With a frown, he faced forward again as they continued plunging onward.

Eventually, they did have to slow, though Roxas wouldn’t let them stop outright. For a little while, Sora clung to Riku who propelled them along while simultaneously applying a medicinal algae held in place with seaweed to Sora’s tail. None of them spoke, and after a little while, Sora felt well enough to continue swimming on his own, the algae doing its job well.

As they drew closer and closer to where Aqua dwelled, the ocean became more inhabited. They didn’t stop to speak, though Sora managed to throw everyone they passed apologetic smiles and occasionally a “Talk later!” Puzzled looks were thrown their way, but nobody stopped them, and all the while they felt the knowledge that they were getting further and further away from you oppressing them. Hands were squeezed, hair brushed from faces, concerned glances sent towards Sora’s tail, though he continued pressing on just as strong as when they’d begun their trek.

“How much longer?” Roxas asked, the first time any of them had spoken in hours.

Each of the merfolk had been lost in thoughts of you, and how they could have done things differently, how they should have done things differently and not gotten captured in the first place. Everything was clearer in retrospect.

“Not much farther,” Sora said, again softly.

Riku glanced back at him with concern. His softness now didn’t sound as though it came from his seriousness as much as it came from pain and fatigue. Without a word, Riku slowed his pace, wrapping his arm around Sora’s waist and helping him to keep going. Sora looked up at him gratefully.

And then finally, after so long that each of them were having to push back awful imagined scenarios where they were too late to save you, they reached Aqua’s dwelling. It was a homey cave, with several holes to let in natural light from the surface that Aqua had created herself. Each of the merfolk was in tune with the sea and the tides, but Aqua seemed even more connected to it than the rest of them. She could almost speak with it, or maybe she actually could, she never really answered when anybody asked her about it, and she could harness the power of it in a way that nobody else had yet mastered.

When they arrived at her dwelling, she was outside of it, graceful cerulean tail gently swaying in the current. She noticed them almost immediately, and a frown fell heavy upon her lips.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, without any preamble.

“Aqua,” Riku started, “we need your help.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Never Let Me Go — Pt 4**

It turned out that, despite being in the business of putting pirates out of business, you actually had no idea how much a merfolk was worth, let alone three, or how much people would pay for ones with exceptionally unique tails. All of it spelled out that your boys were incredibly valuable, and Luxord hadn’t been exaggerating when he said you’d lost him a great deal of money. According to him, the auction that he had been planning to take them to in Tortuga could have had him set for life. That is, until you had shown up and freed his “precious merchandise”. It sickened you to hear Sora, Riku, and Roxas being referred to like objects, things instead of the beautiful and wonderful people you knew them to be.

You kept your mouth steadfastly shut though, hoping that your contempt came through loud and clear. If the captain’s ever present smirk was anything to go by — and he wore it so often it might not have been — he could read your contempt perfectly and found it amusing. The shackles around your wrists were never taken off, Luxord was too smart for that. He knew that he didn’t have anything he could hold over your head or use to bargain, having seen with the storm you’d created exactly how powerful you were and what lengths you would go to in order to protect Sora, Riku, and Roxas.

You could tell that he wanted to use your skills to his advantage, and badly, so you’d been trying to brainstorm ways that you could convince him that unshackling you would be worth the risk. But every needling comment, every offhand observation that your tasks would be easier with your powers was met with the captain’s knowing smirk. You couldn’t slip a single thing past his notice, and you began to grow frustrated at your lack of progress. You’d started a storm, surely you should be able to out maneuver a pirate captain. But Luxord never paused or gave you room for deception.

It didn’t take long for you to realize that his so called retribution — the menial tasks he gave you to pay him back for destroying his ship, decimating his crew, and freeing the merfolk — wasn’t retribution in the way you’d expected. Instead of having you repair his ship, coercing you to tell him where Sora, Riku, and Roxas had gone, or anything else you’d thought he might have you do, you were scrubbing the decks, catering to the whims of the crew, and doing other odd jobs around the ship. Shortly after your capture, Luxord had moved the shackles from your wrists to your ankles. You couldn’t decide if this made your tasks easier or harder, but at the end of every day, without fail, you were exhausted and unable to do anything but collapse into sleep.

The days continued like this, your leg healing and the quantity of your work increasing and you started to wonder if Luxord would actually make good on his promises to make you pay him back. If all he did was give you small chores upon the ship, you would be his prisoner forever. Was that what he had planned on? Was that what he meant when he said you’d pay him back? The thought made your heart clench in your chest. You’d never regret freeing Sora, Riku, and Roxas, that wasn’t even an option, but each day away from them was getting harder and harder to bear.

A knocking came from your door.

Sometime around when your shackles had been moved, you had been moved as well. From a cell without even a bunk, you’d been moved to perhaps the smallest cabin on the ship. The door was secured with a heavy lock, and so, even if you had wanted to get up and open it, you couldn’t have, but Captain Luxord enjoyed his game of faux politeness. It was an everyday reminder that you were at his mercy. He pretended to give you power to remind you that you had none.

You closed your eyes. Just because you were powerless didn’t mean you were going to give him the satisfaction of getting a rise out of you. Sure enough, only a few more moments went by before he opened the door, sauntering in with his usual arrogant smile. You only spared him a glance before closing your eyes again. He was going to talk, and he could do it just fine whether your eyes were open or closed.

The firm bundle that landed on your chest caught you by surprise. You eyes flew open and over to the captain before finding the thing, or things, he had so unceremoniously thrown at you. It was a fresh shirt, infinitely cleaner than the one you wore now, a brush, and a pair of shoes. A wry smile crossed your lips at the contents, mostly at the absence of a new pair of pants. Couldn’t very well change pants with your ankles in shackles. Turning back to Luxord, you raised an eyebrow.

“What’s all this?”

“This is how you’re going to pay me back.”

His face looked entirely too smug for somebody who was making little to no sense.

“I’m going to pay you back… with some clothes?”

“You’re going to make yourself presentable,” he said.

At this, your bravado faltered a little. There was absolutely nothing to do on a pirate ship that required looking presentable, and in fact it seemed like the less presentable a pirate looked, the better. You racked your brain for anything that might need you to look presentable. All the while, a sick feeling was growing in the pit of your stomach. Whatever he had in store for you, it wasn’t good. You swallowed roughly.

“And what, exactly, do I have to look presentable for?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” His expression sharpened. “Nobody wants to buy damaged goods, mate.”

Your stomach dropped, a heavy weight inside of you, even though you hadn’t eaten properly in weeks.

“D… damaged goods?”

Luxord didn’t answer, instead turning around and leaving as quickly as he’d come. The heavy click of the lock falling back into place echoed in your mind, and with it your understanding became crystal clear. You had freed his previous merchandise, so now you were to be put on the auction block instead. Your fingers clenched tightly around the pile of clothes in your hands as your eyes squeezed tightly shut.

“Sora… Riku… Roxas… please find me,” you begged the empty room.

For the first time since your capture, tears fell from your eyes, fast, noisy, and relentless.


End file.
